This invention relates to apparatus for manufacturing electronic components, more particularly providing metal sheet on which a tape with thermosetting adhesive is applied so that electronic components e.g., lead wire, connector and flexible board can be plated with metal effectively and successively only to required portions.
Connecting terminals of electronic components such as LSI, IC, transistor and connector are made from metal strip or metal tape through punching process in which they are stamped out successively into a desired shape.
Such stamped components are plated with metal for various purposes while this plating process is, in conventional manner, operated before the aforementioned punching process.
In such prior technique, metal plating treatment on metal tape comprises the steps of sticking nonconductive tapes N on each edge of the metal tape 4 (FIG. 1), and applying metal plating to a center portion M on which nonconductive tape is not bonded. However, according to such procedure, much of the plating material is wasted and product cost increases, because portions other than those being stamped out are also plated with metal.